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Sorry, not interested

I am not interest in your software patent pledges. I want you to freaken burn them, I want you to freaken stop lobbying for this crap and I want you instead to lobby to ban their very existence. So I am very much in agreement with Florian Müller's (who has been working hard in cooperation with MySQL to prevent a legitimization of software patents in Europe) assessment of the state of affairs.

I do not buy into the thought that patents, especially in the software industry do anything for innovation. Would any software company really stop investing in innovation? I think not. The software industry is moving too fast. Its about being the first mover and for most of us innovation is just part of our day to day lives as we solve real customer needs.

We do not have time to write up shady crap that covers everything and says nothing. We do not have time to waste on reading such crap either. We put our stuff out in the open because again its about solving real customer needs and if someone picks up the ball takes it further we can benefit along with him. And we will look at where he is taking the ball because he is not trying to hide the solution like those pesky patent lawyers.

I honestly am getting tired of big-wig companies playing the communism card while cashing in on open source and backstabbing at the same time. IBM, SAP etc. is not making my open source life easier regardless of how many developers they send out and how much marketing money they pour into telling customers that open source is ok to use. My customers want solutions and I offer solutions. I do not need big-wigs for this. But I need them to stop pushing software patents. NOW!

Until then they do not have to bother making friends with me and I will not bother being all too friendly with them. Though I at least have some manners and I do believe that companies and their managers are just as bound to common courtesy as "normal" humans beings.

Oh and while they try to get me high on their first taste of software patents I say no thanks. "The first shot is always free", that’s what any drug dealer will tell you.